The Indian super youngster who had just come here was, of course, Gukesh Dommaraju, the one who currently fought in the grandmaster section for the highest title of the tournament. Honestly, if anyone noticed his presence here, they would've been surprised, wondering why Gukesh was here instead of concentrating on his own game. After all, the race in the grandmaster section also reached the climax here, and the boy was one of the frontrunners who had the chance to win it all.

Yeah, the situation in the grandmaster section was crazy. Unlike in the open, where Muradli Muhammad was the sole leader followed by a bunch of grandmasters who were half a point away from the top, in this section, three players had the same 4 points out of 6 rounds. Besides Gukesh, the other two players next to him were also very strong players; Le Quang Liem from Vietnam, who was also the strongest player in the field, and Andrey Espinenko, the one who managed to beat him a few rounds ago.

The situation was much more intense than that, as in the last round, Andrey Espinenko and Le Quang Liem had to fight against each other. If somehow, none of them managed to win, and Gukesh himself was able to steal a point from his opponent, Salem Saleh, then the boy would be the sole winner of the tournament. Of course, the chance for that to happen was quite slim, but a boy could still dream, right?

As for why the grandmaster section only played for 7 rounds instead of 9 like the open section—and any other normal tournament outside—well, it was because this section also had the rapid and blitz tournament, making it a complete tournament that challenged players there on every category available in chess.

Gukesh himself got a pretty good result there, with him getting 4 points out of 7 rounds in the rapid one and 7.5 points out of 14 rounds in the blitz. Unfortunately, those were still not enough for him to win at least one section, since Le Quang Liem managed to snatch the number one spot in the Rapid section while the Russian-born American veteran, Gata Kamsky, showed his dominance in the blitz tournament.

Overall, though, it was still a good tournament for Gukesh, and he still had a chance to steal the number one spot for the standard section today. That was why it was surprising to see him here, chilling and watching the open section instead of concentrating on his own decisive game.

Hell, if Sheva himself noticed Gukesh's presence, he would've been taken aback by that, especially since the Indian prodigy was so interested in his game. After all, even though they played against each other in Reykjavik a month ago, at that time, Sheva didn't really put up a good fight, so he thought that Gukesh would've forgotten about him already. Well, it was a valid concern, but he forgot about one thing here. He befriended Praggnanandhaa, the other Indian prodigy, so it was understandable if his game caught Gukesh's attention.

Also, Gukesh was right about one thing. Sheva's improvement was so crazy, especially in the eyes of someone who didn't really follow his journey. The last time Gukesh played against Sheva, the Indian boy could still remember that Sheva could only pull the Dutch Defense and hope that it would catch his opponent off guard. This time, though, Sheva even initiated the Queen's Gambit decline on his own, showing how far he had improved compared to a month ago.

'It is not just because he pulls the Queen's Gambit willingly.' Gukesh thought inwardly. 'The fact that he could play it confidently and hasn't made any mistakes yet shows that he is finally willing to expand his repertoire. If he could mix and match those mainstream openings with his maverick ones to catch his opponent off guard, I am sure he would be a lethal opening player.'

Well, Sheva would've been flattered if he had heard the Indian prodigy say that about him. Unfortunately, it was not the right time, as currently, the boy was still fighting for his life.

From the start of the game, he tried to tear apart Muradli's pawn structure in the center of the board, not wanting to let him get comfortable even for a second. Of course, Muradli himself was not a paper tiger. In return, the Azerbaijan GM slid his A rook one square away to the B1, and even though it looked like a silly move, the purpose was clear here. The man wanted to prevent Sheva's light bishop from getting developed, forcing it to protect the B7 pawn at all costs.

Honestly, if anyone who knew the current situation in the open section saw this, they would be surprised at how Muradli Muhammad played the game here. After all, the man only needed to take a quick draw, and he would've been the winner of the tournament even though some of the grandmasters behind him managed to win and tie his score. After all, his tie-breaker point was so good that he would still come out on top even if someone had the same point as him.

However, here he was, playing aggressively as if the man eyed a win against Sheva. Muradli Muhammad went all out, even abandoning his right to castle just so that he could put more pressure on Sheva's kingside. The strategy worked, though, as Sheva was pushed back and forced into his own territory. Hell, all of his pieces were cramped on the back row, not being able to get out without messing up his whole position.

*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.

Even though the computer engine said that it was +0.3, still pretty much an equal game for both sides, it was clear that the initiative was on Muradli Muhammad. Not only that, Sheva, who was accustomed to playing fast, was forced to think hard here. It was quite rare for Sheva to be down on time, let alone a whole 30 minutes like this.

Still, the game was far from over. The fire in Sheva's eyes was still burning brightly, as in this tight position, the boy still tried to look for an opportunity to make a breakthrough here.

'One chance…' He clenched his fist unconsciously. 'I just need one chance, and I could change the whole situation here! Come on, give it to me!'

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